Pros:

Cons:

You've probably seen a great movie at some point or other, and later asked "Who made this?" so you could watch for the artist responsible in the future. I think that's the reaction many people'll have to Ubisoft's Beyond Good & Evil. In this case, the answer happens to be Michel Ancel, the soft-spoken French game designer responsible for the first two Rayman games. While they were good and great, respectively, they still didn't properly prepare my expectations for BG&E. Quite simply, BG&E is a tour-de-force of imagination, an electronic window into a fantastic world that exists in only our consoles and a creative French guy's mind. I greatly enjoyed my time in that world, and my only real regret is that it was over so soon.

BG&E actually plays similarly to a modern Zelda game. You can move around and interact with the environments, travel to points of interest in the overworld, talk to people, attack when provoked, solve some cool puzzles, get extra hearts, and so on. However, there's also a large amount of vehicle piloting (one is a hovercraft, the other is a spoiler), picture-taking, and, get this, stealth elements. Believe it or not, BG&E just about nails every single one, making for a game that's often quite fun and never a chore to play. Even the surprisingly frequent stealth segments, which I'm often leery of, are non-frustrating and enjoyable.

So. Now that you know about the extremely solid gameplay, I can talk about what's really special here.

Uncommon Quality

Motoring about. Jade's light-house looms in the distance.

A large part of BG&E's appeal lies in its unconventional story and meticulous depiction of an alternate world, which feels surprisingly fresh and well-realized. Set on the small planet Hyllis, you play the young "action reporter" / photojournalist Jade, who, when not on assignment, takes care of a group of war orphans in her converted lighthouse. Hyllis is being attacked by the alien Domz, who survive by feeding on kidnapped Hyllians' souls. The Alpha Section militias are supposed to be fighting to protect the people, but never seem to be around in time. Why, that's enough to make a person suspicious!

Thus are laid the seeds for a simplistic but effective story that touches on conspiracy, politics, popular revolt and the powers of a free press. I won't go so far as to call it a fitting allegory for our times, but it's certainly not untimely, either. Better, unlike in The Matrix Reloaded or Metal Gear Solid 2, each successive plot twist actually made the story cooler and more interesting, taking it in directions that I was happy to see it go. There are some thrilling scenarios near the end, not the least of which is the final boss battle. BG&E doesn't plateau early -- it just gets better and better. (Kinda like Final Fantasy IV.) Important story events are shown through excellent in-engine cutscenes, with top-notch direction and cinematography.

Segundo and Pey'J -- one can't help but like 'em.

This intriguing story is populated by characters that are actually allowed to be characters, and many of them are quite charming. Jade is pretty cool (and an extremely good character design), but her foster guardian / constant companion Pey'J is great, especially for a humanoid pig. (In Hyllis, it seems, furries and humans can coexist.) Another great character is Segundo, an apparently Spanish AI construct who keeps Jade's items digitized and organized while keeping up a constant Spanglish-laced patter that would be annoying if it weren't so amusing.